UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Sophomore running back Saquon Barkley has added the illustrious Chicago Tribune Silver Football for the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player to his résumé. He shares the honor with Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett.
Barkley is the fourth Nittany Lion, all of whom were quarterbacks, to win the Silver Football and is the first since Daryll Clark shared the honor with Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham in 2009. Barkley joins Clark, Michael Robinson (2005) and Kerry Collins (1994) as Penn Staters to win the accolade.
Barkley is the 2016 Graham-George Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the 2016 Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year. Barkley was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media, which made him a unanimous first team choice. The sophomore was selected as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection.
The Coplay, Pennsylvania, native claimed Sporting News All-America second team honors yesterday. He is the first Penn State running back to garner All-America accolades since Larry Johnson captured first team laurels in 2002. He is also the first offensive player to take home All-America honors since Allen Robinson (first team) and John Urschel (third team) in 2013.
Barkley ranks second in the Big Ten and ranks 32nd in FBS in all-purpose yards (128.15) and paces the Big Ten and ranks ninth in FBS in total touchdowns with 19. The sophomore back is third in the conference and 33rd nationally with 100.2 rushing yards per game. In the Big Ten Championship game, Barkley broke the Penn State sophomore rushing yards record and is 10th on the single-season chart with 1,302 markers and ranks No. 6 on Penn State's single season all-purpose yards list with 1,666. He owns the sophomore scoring record with 114 points, passing Kevin Kelly's previous mark of 96 points (2006).
Just the eighth player in program history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons, Barkley had a streak of 14 consecutive games with at least one rush of 20 yards snapped at Rutgers (Nov. 19), a streak that was the second-longest in college football in the last 20 years (19 - LaMichael James, Oregon (2008-10). He has 39 rushes of 10 or more yards in 2016 and 73 in his career.
Barkley sits 14th on Penn State’s career rushing yards list (2,378) and 14th in career rushing scores (23). Earlier this season, he became the first Penn State player since Larry Johnson in 2002 (289 yards vs. Michigan State and 327 yards at Indiana) to post back-to-back game with 200-plus all-purpose yards, gaining 211 vs. Iowa (Nov. 5) and 277 at Purdue (Oct. 29).